'Terra Nova' - The next big thing?

Fox is certainly delivering the goods this television season when it comes to science fiction! Come midseason, there's new J.J. Abrams project Alcatraz to look forward to, but first out of the gate is time-travel drama Terra Nova. Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, this ambitious series will follow devoted father Jim Shannon and his family as they travel back to prehistoric times to escape a dying Earth, only to discover that all is not as it appears within the new human colony!

Fox's entertainment president Kevin Reilly recently described the show as a "family adventure" and insisted that it will be "unlike anything you've seen before". But is Terra Nova really the next big thing? Take a look at our preview below and let us know if you'll be tuning in on Mondays at 8/7c this fall!

WHY WE'RE EXCITED...

The Premise - As we pointed out in our Alcatraz feature last week, science fiction television is something of an endangered species at the moment. With television budgets being slashed, it's far easier for networks to pick up yet another cop procedural, rather than take a risk on an ambitious (read: pricey) sci-fi drama. The Terra Nova pilot certainly has an intriguing set-up - it pitches itself somewhere between Lost and Jurassic Park - and we're certainly curious to see where the show goes over the next twelve episodes.

The Visuals - As evidenced by the trail recently released by Fox, Terra Nova is shaping up to be a real visual spectacular. The special effects are predictably fantastic, but the location shooting in Cleveland, Australia has also paid off, lending the series a truly impressive exotic backdrop. It also looks like we've got some strong action sequences to look forward to, as man battles prehistoric beast.The Pedigree - Let's face it, there's more big names attached to Terra Nova than you can shake a dinosaur bone at. Hollywood legend Steven Spielberg is keeping busy this television season, serving as executive producer on both this show and TNT's alien invasion drama Falling Skies, but the likes of long-time Star Trek producer Brannon Braga and 24's Jon Cassar are involved behind the scenes. The show's cast is just as impressive as its crew - Avatar villain Stephen Lang has signed up to play the new colony's charismatic but ruthless leader, while Jason O'Mara (last seen being the best thing in ABC's ill-advised Life On Mars remake) and Brit actress Shelley Conn will play married couple Jim and Elisabeth Shannon.

WHY WE'RE HESITANT...

Production Troubles - Let's not forget that Terra Nova also formed a key part of Fox's upfront presentation back in 2010. Since the project's inception, it's been plagued with production issues, including a series of delays which saw the series premiere shifted from May to fall this year. Some reports also suggested that the pilot's budget was spiralling out of control, hitting $20m (£12.4m), while original executive producer David Fury - known for his work on the likes of Buffy and Lost - jumped ship back in September and has since joined another Fox series, the returning Fringe. While the pilot looks visually fantastic, could a drama on the scale of Terra Nova simply be too ambitious for Fox to produce a on a weekly basis? The network took the unusual step of skipping a pilot order and instead commissioned an entire 13-episode series, but will Fox executives end up regretting their decision?Too High Concept? - We may have praised Fox for taking a chance on a new sci-fi drama, but it's certainly understandable why other networks could be nervous about experimenting in the genre. In what could be termed Lost fatigue, big-budget, high-concept shows like FlashForward and The Event haven't exactly set the world on fire in recent years, with both shows getting the boot after a single season. With Terra Nova promising time-travel, paradoxes and all manner of mysteries, it's likely that sci-fi fans will lap it up, but have casual viewers simply tired of this kind of complex, arc-heavy programming?

FINAL THOUGHTS...

You may have noticed that our good points outweigh the bad, and we'll definitely be giving Terra Nova a shot this fall. Our main concern is not whether the show will be any good - with the level of talent involved, it seems like a sure thing - but whether or not it's possible for such an ambitious show to maintain a consistent quality. We've got our fingers crossed though and hope that there's life to Terra Nova beyond the impressive pilot. Perhaps just as the Shannon family embrace a brave new world, so television viewers will too...